A woman who was severely injured in a 2007 motorcycle crash has settled a personal injury lawsuit against San Bernardino County. The woman was riding as a passenger on a motorcycle when the bike went down in a single-vehicle crash. The woman sustained numerous permanent and disabling head and neck injuries in the California motorcycle accident.
She and the driver each sued the county where the accident occurred alleging that the county was responsible for the motorcycle crash for failing to properly maintain the road. Court records indicate that a San Bernardino County road had a dangerous trench in an area of the road that had partially collapsed. The road reportedly had partially washed out after heavy rains a couple of days before the motorcycle accident.
The spokesman says that road maintenance crews did not make any repairs before the two people were injured in the 2007 motorcycle accident. He also says that the county had not placed signs on the road to warn motorists that part of the road had washed away. Crews worked on the dangerous road after the accident.
The passenger on the motorcycle had amassed high medical bills while undergoing treatment after the accident. The county recently agreed to pay damages, including paying the State Department of Health Care Services to cover medical expenses related to the crash.
The driver of the motorcycle has also sued the county as a co-plaintiff in the lawsuit. A spokesman for the county says a settlement with the driver of the motorcycle is in the works.
Source: The Press-Enterprise, “S.B. COUNTY: $3 million settlement over road’s condition,” Imran Ghori, Jan. 2, 2012
